Volunteer communities have customized Intel-based macOS to run illicitly on non-Apple computers. Intel-based Macs can run third party operating systems without modification to the operating system. After a brief foray into licensing its OS for non-Apple computers from 1995 to 1997, Apple now only allows the Mac OS to be usable on Macs. The first versions of the Macintosh operating systems (retrospectively called ' Classic Mac OS') were replaced in 2001 by the Mac OS X, a Unix-based OS. This changed in 2020 when the M1 chip was introduced in various models. Apple phased out the Macintosh name in favor formalizing the nickname 'Mac.' After a transition to Intel processors in 2006, the complete lineup was Intel-based. All were successful due to their high performance, competitive prices and aesthetic designs, and helped return Apple to profitability. Even after the transition to the superior PowerPC-based Power Macintosh line in the mid-1990s, the falling prices of commodity PC components, poor inventory management with the Macintosh Performa, and the release of Windows 95 contributed to continued decline of the Macintosh user base.Īpple consolidated its complex line down to four products in 1999: Power Macintosh G3, iMac G3, PowerBook G3, and iBook. In the early 1990s, Apple introduced the Macintosh LC II and Color Classic.Ĭompeting Wintel PCs with Windows 3.1 and Pentium processor gradually took market share from Apple, and by 1994 Apple had dropped to third place as a PC manufacturer. Macintoshes were successful in education and desktop publishing, making Apple the second-largest PC manufacturer for the next decade. Apple sold it alongside its popular Apple II series until the others were discontinued in the 1990s.Įarly Macintosh models were relatively expensive, hindering competitiveness in a market dominated by the cheaper or more widely-compatible competitors, such as Commodore 64 or IBM PC and its clones. The original Macintosh was the first successful mass-market all-in-one desktop personal computer with a graphical user interface, built-in screen, and mouse. (originally as Apple Computer, Inc.) since 1984. The Macintosh (or Mac) is a family of personal computers designed, manufactured, and sold by Apple Inc.

Clockwise from top: MacBook Air (Early 2015), iMac G5 20' (2004), Macintosh II (1987), Power Mac G4 Cube (2000), iBook G3 Blueberry (1999) and original Macintosh 128K (1984)

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